One of the southbound B41 buses that Ian Bascombe was driving when he stabbed passenger Quentin Branch (News 12/YouTube).
A bus driver for the MTA in New York City allegedly stabbed a passenger with a knife during his Friday afternoon route. The driver plunged the knife into the passenger’s head and leg following a verbal dispute and being punched by the rider when the driver made a stop, according to the police.
Ian Bascombe, 58, was allegedly driving a southbound B41 bus near Foster and Flatbush Aves. in Brooklyn, New York, when passenger Quentin Branch, 33, asked him to pull over to drop him off, according to the New York Police Department.
“The passenger wanted to exit at an unauthorized stop,” NYPD officials tell Law&Crime.
Police sources told the New York Post that Branch, a “known transit offender recidivist,” claimed he boarded the wrong bus and wanted to get off. Bascombe allegedly kept driving to try and find a safe place to pull over, prompting Branch to attack him.
“I’m going to break your jaw” Branch allegedly said to Bascombe before socking him in the left eye, the Post reports.
The assault happened at around 12:30 p.m. and led to Bascombe brandishing a knife to stab Branch with multiple times, according to police. He was transported to Kings County Hospital in stable condition and survived.
Both men wound up being arrested and charged for the incident, with Bascombe catching two counts of second- and third-degree assault and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; Branch got hit with one count of second-degree harassment and two counts of second- and third-degree assault.
“Violence on buses puts New Yorkers at risk and is not acceptable,” said Frank Annicaro, NYC Transit’s senior vice president for buses, in a statement to local media outlets. “Pending internal review, this Bus Operator is being withheld from service.”
Bascombe is described by the New York Daily News as a 20-year vet with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.His attack on Branch is one of several incidents to happen this year involving MTA employees in New York and other major cities.
Last week, an MTA cleaner was arrested and charged for allegedly cutting a man at the Atlantic Ave.-Barclays Center subway stop in Brooklyn. In November, a female MTA employee was allegedly shot in Los Angeles by her ex-boyfriend.
The violence has sparked protests from MTA workers, who have asked for better security.
“Metro doesn’t care about its drivers,” a longtime employee told the Los Angeles Times in May. “We are all expendable.”
